Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew
by the morrighan
Summary: The second half of my version of a season six. This is the ninth story.
1. Chapter 1

Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew

"John! John!"

Moira's cry of fear was cut short as she scrambled backwards in the cell. The door shut and the Wraith Drones raised their stunners but did not fire. Moira hardly noticed as she was transfixed by the sight of the presumably dead Homo erectus rising to its feet. It made a weird keening sound, as if it was in pain and it slowly advanced upon her. Its feet were shuffling and a slow trickle of blood ran from its empty eye socket. The other eye was focused on her.

She knew it was pointless to call out for the military commander but his name issued from her lips automatically. "John!"

It shambled closer, closer, head tilting as if the loss of its neural implant somehow unbalanced it. Its mouth was moving but only that eerie keening sound was forming.

"Get some help! Get some help, damn it!" she called, but cringed as the creature's shadow crossed over her, casting her into darkness and she made her last thoughts be of the handsome military commander who inexplicably loved her.

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John was stunned. He stared up at the face of Elizabeth Weir, except it really wasn't her face. Her features were morphed by the Wraith genome and God knew what else into a horrible parody of the woman he once knew. The dark curls were longer and wilder. The aquiline features were more elongated. A fierce intelligence shone in her eyes which had an otherworldly, less human quality now.

There was no compassion there.

"You…you're not Elizabeth," he said. His voice was raw, crackling in his throat.

The queen smiled at him as she softly stroked his jaw. "No. I am an amalgamation of her. I have her memories, her feelings and her insights. I have her knowledge but not all of her."

"How?" John asked, riveted. He was still on his knees but locked in place although no one held him and the queen's power had receded from his mind and body.

"The ones you call Replicators," she answered. Her gravelly voice held remnants of Elizabeth's and it made a chill creep up John's back. He glanced at Todd and finally recognized the new tattoo on the Wraith's face. It was a drawing of the pendant that Elizabeth had always worn. He looked back at the queen. "We were able to access their…" She paused, head tilting. Her eyes became slits of fury. She turned to Todd. "You told me it was dead!" she hissed.

"What? It was dead!" Todd insisted, startled out of his enjoyment of John's shock.

John realized what they were discussing. "Crap!" He jumped to his feet and ran from the room before any of the Wraith could react.

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Moira braced herself, wanting to scream but no sound escaped her lips.

The creature paused in front of her. It raised one hand then stopped. It tilted its head, staring at her with its one good eye. Moira stared back, feeling compassion for the creature despite the terror. It was in obvious pain and bewilderment. She felt a surge of tears and blinked them away to clear her vision. This was a human, after all, a species of human no matter how incomprehensible it might be to her.

Moira slowly, slowly raised her hand, reaching out to the alien in front of her.

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John ran. His feet flew through the Hive ship, down and around hallways. He sped by the slower Wraith Drones. He knocked other Wraith aside that happened to get in his way. He could hear others pursuing him but he didn't care. A few stun blasts shot past him, sizzling along the walls.

His heart pounded in his chest with pure fear, but not for himself.

He rounded the corner so quickly his feet briefly left the floor and he drove past the Wraith guards who were standing near the cell, stunners raised but not being fired. He dove to the floor, skidding on his knees and shins towards his abandoned P90. He grabbed it, rolled and lifted up on his knees to fire repeatedly at the monster about to attack the biologist. "Moira, down!" he shouted before a barrage of bullets sprayed across the creature.

"No, no!" Moira cried in horror, but dove to one side as the creature was shredded with bullets. Lasers from the Wraith stunners followed in a blinding flash of blue and yellow. She shut her eyes, shielding her head as the creature yelled and toppled dangerously over her before falling backwards away from her.

"Moira!" John was on his feet, entering the cell and practically emptying his clip into the bloody remains of the creature. He rushed to her, circling the body. He set down the gun and pulled her to her feet, blocking her from the Wraith in case they decided to keep firing. "Moira, are you okay?" he asked, breathless.

Moira clung a moment, overcome by the sheer relief of being with John, in his arms as he pulled her to him in a tight embrace. "John!" She shoved free suddenly, angry. "What the hell did you do? It wasn't going to hurt me!"

"What?" John whirled suddenly and in one smooth movement he had his gun in his hands and pointed at the Wraith that were crowding the room. "What the hell is this? You said it was dead! That's it! This damn alliance is over!" He aimed his gun.

Todd stepped towards him, hands open, arms outstretched in a conciliatory gesture. "We thought it was dead as did your biologist, John Sheppard. It was through no fault of our own that this happened but she is unharmed."

"Not good enough! You can take that neural transmitter and shove it straight up your—"

"John!" Moira moved next to him, touching his arm. She looked down at the body of the Homo erectus. It was well and truly dead now, torn to shreds by the P90. "It…it wasn't going to hurt me," she softly repeated. "John, please. We need this alliance," she urged, fingers caressing along his arm. She could feel the tension, the strength as well as the anger.

He met her gaze briefly. He eyed the Wraith as they lowered their weapons. Slowly, slowly he lowered his. "She stays with me, got it? Or this alliance is over right now!" he growled.

"As you wish, John Sheppard."

"Then let's get this over with. I'll try to access the neural transmitter and then we can—"

"No, John. You can't!" Moira objected.

"This way." Todd gestured, smiling. "The queen awaits."

"I bet she does," John muttered, not quite convinced this had been an oversight, although the queen's fury had seemed real enough. He led Moira around the body. She quickly grabbed her kit on the way. He led her through the Wraith and followed Todd out of the chamber.

"John, John, it wasn't going to hurt me. It almost lashed out in anger and pain but it didn't, not when it—"

"Don't care, Moira. One of those things killed Lorne without a second thought, remember?"

His harsh words sobered her and she yanked freed of his hold, but John restored it and glanced at her. His expression was gentler than his words had been. Moira met his gaze, frowning as she saw the thin scratch along his face, the line of beading blood down his cheek to his jaw. Before she could ask he shook his head.

The group entered a chamber that was cast in sickly hues of gray and green. John paused, gently pulling Moira to him. There was a bed in the chamber, a cot really that looked very uncomfortable and utilitarian in the extreme. A wheeled tray was next to it on which sat the neural transmitter that had been removed from the alien. It was smaller than expected and Moira moved to it, taking John with her as he did not let go.

She stared at the small object. It was composed of three cubical devices, all linked together and gray in color. There were wires snaking out of it and those were attached to a headset of Wraith design that could fit over the skull and over one eye. She gulped, realizing and looked over as Todd neared, smiling. "You jerry-rigged it because it wouldn't work the other way."

Todd nodded, impressed. "Yes. We tried it the way it was, but it attaches inside the skull to the brain directly."

"And it didn't work?" John asked, feeling his stomach turn over at the thought. He was staring at the device in both curiosity and dread.

"Oh, it did work, John Sheppard." Todd's voice purred softly. "At least with the humans it did, but as you suggested, Doctor O'Meara, those humans couldn't handle the input or comprehend it. The transmitter literally buried into their brains and eventually killed them."

"And that's why you built the outer attachment and cut the wires," Moira surmised. Her heart was pounding and she swallowed. "Have you tested this?"

"Not yet. John Sheppard will be our first test subject," the queen replied with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew2

The queen came out of the shadows like an ethereal nightmare, walking towards them with guards at her back. She was part of the darkness, cloaked in black and her smile was one of such pure malevolence that even the shadows seemed to draw back from her.

Moira stared, recognizing the former leader of Atlantis but it didn't distract her from the more horrific prospect facing John. "No. No! You must test it on me."

"What? No!" John blurted then cursed to himself as he was suddenly grabbed and hauled away from Moira by two burly guards. "I said I'll do it! I'll do it, damn it!"

"No! I know more about these creatures than John, than anyone, and I am in the process of analyzing their language so I will be more prepared to understand whatever that thing has to transmit," Moira argued calmly, not looking at John but at the queen who was watching them as if she was enjoying a pleasant entertainment.

To see such utter contempt on the face of Elizabeth Weir was truly unnerving.

"No! I'll do it! If anything happens to me you'll need her to analyze it!" John argued, struggling. He wasn't looking at the queen but could feel her eyes on him. She wanted him to suffer, and what better way to do that then to inflict this experiment not on him but on the woman he loved.

"Very well." The queen gestured and Todd moved towards Moira.

"No! No, no I said I would do it! If we lose her we lose any advantage we have other them!" John argued, struggling. He elbowed one guard and swung at the other, but a blow to his mid-section staggered him and he gasped, reeling as the guards grabbed him again and punched his jaw. He fell to his knees but grabbed a stunner and fired it. The laser seared a guard but another took his place and grabbed the weapon, swinging it up into John's jaw with a loud crack.

"No! John, please!" Moira quickly moved to him as he fell backwards, groaning. She touched his chest, stopping him from scrambling to his feet. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth. "This is the only way, John. I will be able to handle the interface better than you can, and if anything happens Atlantis will still have you!"

"No, Moira, I can't—" His protest dissolved as she fiercely kissed him.

Moira was pulled away from him, and taken to the table. As John scrambled to his feet the guards took hold of him, keeping him away from her. Calmly Moira got on the table and reclined. She stared as Todd smiled, standing close. He took hold of the neural transmitter. "Restraints."

Another Wraith stepped to them and enclosed Moira's wrists and waist to the table. His long white hair tickled her skin but his cold, cold touch made her shiver. She braced herself, concentrating on that last kiss, on the feel of John's lips locked to hers as Todd gently, so gently slid the contraption onto her head and over one eye.

John was struggling, staring at Moira, unable to contain his emotions or to hide them. He knew the queen was watching him and enjoying every second of this, but he couldn't pretend to be indifferent. "Moira!" he called.

She was utterly still on the bed. Silent. She started to convulse and she emitted a single, solitary cry of pain. The neural implant was glowing red, active now.

"Hold him." The queen's voice was quiet, calm, as John began to violently struggle.

Todd and the other Wraith stood on either side of the bed, watching as Moira bucked against the restraints and moaned, fighting against the implant.

She suddenly collapsed and became still.

"Moira! Moira! Let me go, damn it! Let me go!" John snarled, struggling so hard he nearly wrenched his arm out of its socket in the effort to reach her. "Talk to her, damn it! She needs me! Let go of me!"

"What do you see? What do you see?" Todd demanded.

"Images..." Moira shut her eyes. It was like she was in a video game, in her mind. Images danced across each other and a language scrolled along one side. "It's like a, a sensor…it's taking readings of everything here…plus what it's seen previously…I can almost access those records but it is hard…the language is so very different…the…it has images of others…"

"Others? What others?" Todd asked, leaning over her as if he could pry into her mind.

"Other Homo erectus…on a planet…the ship…the…it's taking readings at the same time…it's too confusing because I can't separate the…" She winced, as pain was dancing along her head now, like a migraine headache. "It's tightening…the…the more I access…"

"Keep going! We must learn everything!"

"No! That's enough, Moira! Don't push it!" John refuted, staring at her. He had stopped struggling as he watched the process, biding his time.

"What else?" Todd asked, glancing at John with a quick smile before returning his attention to Moira. "What else?" he repeated. "Go deeper!" He flexed his feeding hand over her chest.

Moira was squinting, eyes closed. She turned her head from side to side, body moving on the bed in a weird parody of having a nightmare. "They…they are exploring…they…new planets…new galaxy…they just achieved hyper drive capabilities…equations…ow ow…it's like a multi-layered game with the graphics all weird and…ow."

"Moira? Can you block any of it?" John asked, trying to move closer but the guards held him back from her.

"It's too much too fast I can't isolate the—"

"What do they want? Where are they headed? Tell us everything!" Todd ordered.

"One thing at a time!" John countered.

Moira's body was tensing as she squirmed against the restraints. Her head was moving side to side as if she was trying to shake off the interface. "Convoluted…places…they don't understand…they don't understand and can't find…they don't…"

"What? What do they not understand?" Todd asked, intrigued at this human's endurance. She was succeeding where all the others had failed, although he could tell it was beginning to take a toll on her. At this rate she would not make a very satisfying meal.

Moira was tensing as her heart was thudding. Pain was a lattice in her head, sparking especially behind one eye where the pressure was building, building. She groaned in pain, in the struggle to make sense of increasingly senseless data filling her head faster and faster. Images were flashing and colors danced in her head. Words flew but she couldn't even begin to read them.

"What else? What else, woman!" Todd demanded, grasping her shoulder to shake her.

"Get your hands off her!" John growled, struggling again. He knew Moira was pushing herself and he knew it should have been him on that table. He knew all of this and could do nothing.

"Math, math, math…" she muttered, trying to find a common denominator, something to translate the mess of information filling her mind. "There! Damn…I need Rodney too…no, no, genetic! The code of…tree…scouting planets, they're scouting planets and encountering aliens that they don't understand and they can't communicate with the attack of the…"

"What do they want?" Todd asked, leaning closer and saying the words into her ear as tenderly as a lover. He flexed his feeding hand over her chest again.

"Don't you dare," John warned, voice low and dangerous.

Moira began to buck again, moaning and sweating on the table. She seemed trapped in a panic attack as her voice was hitching in her throat and her pulse was racing, racing. Whatever she was seeing it wasn't pleasant and John began to struggle more earnestly.

"It won't…it won't…too close…too close…"

"Tell us everything!" Todd instructed.

"Can't decipher…separate…too much…"

"Get it off her!" John glanced at the queen. She was watching Moira now, her alien eyes dark and dangerous slits on her face. "That's enough! Don't overload her brain with it!"

The queen met his gaze and smiled.

She just smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew3

Moira collapsed. She fell into a black void where she was blissfully insensate.

"Moira! Moira!" John shouted, struggling fiercely. At a nod from the queen the guards freed him and he almost fell face forward. Instead he rushed to the bed, shoving aside the second Wraith. "Moira! Moira, can you hear me? Moira!" He quickly undid the restraints and felt for her pulse. "Get this damn thing off her!" Not waiting he gently pulled off the headgear and tossed the unit aside. "Moira?"

Moira stirred. She opened her eyes and moved slightly. She could feel hands on her. She lifted hers, blinking and blinking but to her horror she could see only blackness. It wasn't the darkness one saw when your eyes were closed. At least that was broken up by bits of light and color and you could see light dimly through your eyelids. No, this was an utter darkness although her eyes were wide open and staring.

It was the unrelenting blackness of the blind.

"I…I can't see…" she whimpered. "I can't see!" she cried, panicking.

John grabbed her hand in his. "I'm here, Moira, I'm right here!" He glanced up at Todd. "What's happened to her?"

"It should only be temporary," the queen answered. Her gravelly voice contained glee. She had been imbibing John's despair and helpless rage as richly as if she had been feeding upon him. "At least we think it is temporary. All of our other subjects died before we could find out."

"John…"

John glowered and he turned back to Moira. "I'm here, I'm right here," he soothed, caressing her brow and hair with his other hand. "It's only temporary, don't panic, all right? Are you okay?"

"No…it's not that…they…they're here."

"Huh? Who's here?"

In answer the ship was jolted by a high energy burst. Alarms screamed.

The Wraith were under attack.

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"Crap." Jason Reynolds didn't swear often, but when he did it usually meant something very bad was happening. The marines in the Jumper with him exchanged worried glances. "We've got company. A friggin' huge ship. Must be the fuglies!" He activated the HUD and eyed the dimensions.

"Friggin' huge," David Peltzer agreed, staring at the screen.

"Orders, sir?" crackled the voice of Albert Muniz in the other Jumper.

Jason considered. "It's hasn't been an hour yet but this changes everything. Let's get up there and try to establish radio contact with Sheppard. Stay cloaked. Reynolds out."

"Are you sure about that, sir? I mean our orders were to—"

"I am well aware of our orders, lieutenant!" Jason snapped. "It hasn't been an hour and Mr. Woolsey said to rely on our own discretion. So that's what I'm doing. Let's fly!"

The two Jumpers flew across the planet and up into space.

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"Taking heavy fire. We are under attack."

"Perform evasive maneuvers," the queen replied to the calm announcement. She gestured. "Put them in a cell until we have use for them." She exited the room, the guards at her back. Todd followed.

"Hey! We are your allies not your prisoners!" John objected. A violent jolt sent the ship reeling and John leaned over Moira, protecting her as sparks flew from a wall. The Hive was partly organic and began to whine like a wounded animal. Lights flickered ominously. "Hold still," he said to Moira. He whirled as the guards tried to grab him. He punched, spun, grabbed a stunner and fired multiple times. The guards staggered, falling, but John knew they would back on their feet in moments.

"John? John, grab the interface!" Moira said, scrambling to sit but her world was one of darkness and she couldn't find the floor.

"Got it!" John grabbed the device, yanking off the Wraith adaptations and shoving the thing into his pocket. He grabbed Moira, making her gasp as he pulled her to her feet. "Let's go, Moy! Don't let go of me!"

"Hilarious, John! Where—"

"Time to get outta Dodge!" He pulled her into an awkward run out of the chamber.

Alarms were wailing and the Hive was sustaining damage. Explosions rocked the ship and John struggled to keep his footing, to keep Moira upright and to evade the Wraith that were suddenly pursuing them. Bolts of lasers flew around them and John could only hope that they were set to stun. Not that he planned to be hit by any.

Power was revving up in the ship. John could feel it under his boots as he ran, guiding Moira as she clung to him. He realized the Hive was prepping to go to a hyperspace window and if they didn't get off the ship now they never would.

"This way! It's not much farther!" he said, snatching the Jumper's locator from his pocket and activating it. He followed the signal.

"John…John…leave me…" Moira said softly. It was difficult to run without being able to see.

"Like hell I will," he muttered.

"No, John, leave me! One of us has to make it off this ship and it has to be you!"

"It will be us, Moy, so stop that right now! There!" He pulled her into a run towards the welcome sight of the Jumper.

"Stop! John Sheppard!"

John froze as lasers zinged around him. He slowly turned, pushing Moira behind him. A group of Wraith were advancing, Todd in the lead. "You don't have time for this. You can't win against that ship and we both know it. You let us go now."

"She is too valuable now to let go…and as for you…the queen has quite a fondness for you, John Sheppard," Todd crooned.

John swallowed. He reached behind him and opened the hatch. "Get in," he said to Moira, gently pushing her up the ramp as he kept his gaze locked on the Wraith at all times. "Tell her the feeling's not mutual, all right? We're going and we're going now."

"You won't survive out there for long."

"I'll take my chances."

"I'm afraid not."

The Wraith advanced.

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The Jumpers flew in tandem across the vastness of space. Before them an uneven battle was being waged between a Hive ship and another alien ship at least twice its size. Laser fire crisscrossed in beams of yellow and green light that produced explosions and auras against the shields. The Hive ship was lurching, clearly in distress as the other ship pursued it.

"Damn…Colonel Sheppard wasn't kidding about these guys," David remarked.

"No, he wasn't. Colonel Sheppard, do you read? Colonel Sheppard, please respond." Jason frowned. "He should be picking us up at this range."

"We're not taking on that, are we?" David asked nervously.

"Not unless we have to," Jason muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew4

"Stop!"

At the queen's command the Wraith froze in place. They melted out of her way, heads bowed but weapons still trained on their quarry. Todd sidestepped with a bow and a gesture reminiscent of an eighteenth-century gentleman. John would have laughed if not for the dire situation. Not even a smirk crossed his lips as he reached down for the gun that wasn't there.

"We're going and you are not going to stop us. If you want this alliance to work you will let us go," John insisted calmly. He could feel Moira behind him, stubbornly remaining. One of her hands was grasping the back of his TAC vest.

"You will stay with us, John, as will she. You will be safer here than out there. You will be returned to Atlantis…eventually." She smiled.

John shook his head. "You may look like Elizabeth Weir but you are nothing like her."

"Oh, but I am." She boldly stepped closer to them. The Wraith followed, closing round her like the wings of a butterfly. "I have most of her memories. I have most of her memories of you. Emotions. Did you know she had feelings for you? She had feelings for you but you never noticed, did you? And she knew it would have been inappropriate for her as the leader of Atlantis to be involved romantically with the military commander so she never acted on them."

John blinked. This was news to him, and he wondered if it was true or not. "It's not my fault if women have feelings for me," he refuted. "I don't believe you."

The queen smiled. "It is true. I find these feelings a weakness and I will root them out…as long as it takes. You will regret breaking her heart. You will regret breaking every woman's heart."

"Crap," John muttered.

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"Sir?"

Jason swore again. "Nothing yet. No contact but we aren't leaving them. Muniz, get everything you can on that other ship. I'm going to circle round the Hive and see if I can intercept a—"

A laser bolt suddenly jarred the Jumper. The Shield held but sparkled.

"What the hell was that?"

"They found us, sir!" David announced. He swung round to the console. "Enemy fighters approaching on this vector! They're coming straight at us, sir!"

"What? How can they see us?"

"I don't know, sir, but they see us now!"

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Moira was lost in a sea of blackness. It was terrifying. She kept a tight grasp of John's TAC vest, afraid to let go and lose her only human connection in an otherwise black void of nothing. She stumbled, reaching round the Jumper's walls, fingers searching, seeking as John talked with first Todd and then the queen.

At her touch the Jumper's power slowly activated. A quiet hum tickled her ears and she knew there were lights although she couldn't see them.

She pondered volunteering to stay so that John could get away. The Hive was rocked again and she stumbled, nearly losing her footing. Her free hand grasped onto something hard, something familiar and she could have wept with relief. She grabbed it tightly.

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The queen extended one slender arm draped in black.

John winced as a wave of pain infiltrated his head, his body. It was a psychic wave that he could not defend against nor ignore. His legs buckled but he fought, gritting his teeth and refusing to obey the commands trying to force him to his knees.

The sudden surprise of feeling a gun sliding into his hand broke the connection. He smiled and grasped it tightly, taking it from Moira. He straightened and aimed it at the queen. Without a second's hesitation he shot her.

The bullet flew towards her but Todd dived in front of it. The bullet hit him squarely in the forehead, knocking him backwards into the queen. The resulting pandemonium was enough for John to whirl, shove Moira into the Jumper. He slammed down the hatch and pulled her to the front of the ship.

"Hold on tight, Moira!" He moved her into the seat, slid into his and immediately activated the shield as the ship raised up into the air, as eager to get away as he was.

"John?" Moira asked, scrambling to find the straps. Instead she held onto the seat as she was pressed back into it by the force of the ship's momentum.

"Colonel Sheppard, do you read? Colonel Sheppard, do you copy? We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack!"

"This is Sheppard! Get to the planet and dial Atlantis! We'll be on your six!" The Jumper jerked as it was hit by laser fire. "Crap! Hold on, Moy! We're gonna have to thread the needle to get outta here!"

"Just like Beggar's Canyon and back home," she said.

John glanced at her, smiling at the Star Wars reference. "That's right, baby! Hold on!"

The Jumper veered wildly, rocking with hits but the shield held. John flew an erratic course, firing on the Darts that he passed to create more mayhem. He calmly guided the controls with his hands as his mind guided the ship and its weapons. He concentrated his steady focus on avoiding all obstacles and enemy craft. He saw the opening of the hangar bay, a great maw of darkness that was the only egress point.

He saw Darts returning to it and realized the Hive was close to jumping into a hyperspace window.

"John?" Moira's voice was tense as she was clinging to the seat, eyes closed as she couldn't bear the utter blackness with her eyes open.

John reached over and touched her arm. "I'm right here, sweetheart, don't you worry. Carson will get you fixed and everything will be fine."

Moira smiled at the unexpected endearment and his assurances. His touch was warm. "Are we clear?"

"Almost." John increased speed as the hangar bay seemed to be closing. He grunted, dipping the ship into a dive and just eased through as the force field was activating. Sparks flew like fireworks around the shield and an alarm blared.

"John?"

"We're out! Wow! Look at that, Moy! Oh…sorry." He sheepishly glanced at her. "The Hive's about to go but it's listing badly and the fuglies are almost on its tail! This is Sheppard! Go on through the 'Gate!"

"Yes, sir! Watch out for the fuglies, sir! They can see us now!"

"Crap. Thanks, Muniz! Go!"

A shot made the shield spark and John veered, returning fire on the alien fighters that were filling the area like hornets defending a nest. To his satisfaction the fighter erupted on one side. To his left a wormhole opened and the Hive disappeared in a wink. The alien ship kept going although its prey was now gone. Suddenly one side of the massive vessel was lighting up like a Christmas tree as one by one the weapons were being readied.

"Crap! Let's get outta here now!" John did a 360 and zoomed down to the planet. The Jumper shuddered, shield crackling from sporadic hits by the enemy fighters and the rush through the atmosphere. The Stargate was beneath him, a tiny shimmering pool of light in a sea of darkness that grew increasingly larger as he closed the distance.

"John?"

"We're almost there, Moy! I've got to slow it down or we'll crash into Reynolds. Just a few seconds more and we'll be safe!" The ship rocked but John steadied her, making a juking beeline for the Stargate and safety.

"No…I…" Moira blinked several times. She squinted, blinked again and turned to him. "I…I can see." She reached over and touched his arm, startling him.

"What?" John glanced at her. Moira was staring at him, wincing as if in pain but she was reacting to him. He smiled. "Thank God! See? Things are looking better already, literally in your case!" He returned his attention to the viewport. "Almost there. Atlantis, this is Sheppard! We're coming in hot! Have a med team ready!"

To Moira that smile was the most beautiful she had ever seen, as was the man who had borne it. She stared, drinking in every detail of him, grateful to be able to see again, and to see John, to watch his emotions and his determination to get them to safety. The scratch on his cheek was still red but was no longer bleeding and there was a bruise forming on his jaw amid the stubble. His dark hair was disordered and his perfect lips were poised downwards as he concentrated on the ship and the Stargate ahead of them.

It was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew5

John stood, arms folded across his chest, staring down at the little device that had caused such utter havoc and anguish for him. He glanced over to where Moira was sitting on the bed in the infirmary, awake and alert as Carson was looking after her. Satisfied he looked back at the device as Rodney probed it with a scalpel. "Well?"

"I have no idea. I mean this is really Carson's area. But it is quite remarkable. The level of technology is frightening, John. This little thing buries into their heads and optic nerves and in essence becomes a part of them! To transmit with the others and to their ships as well, yet it is a wholly mechanical device with sensors and a very complicated data system."

"I know." He glanced over at Moira again. Carson was holding a penlight to shine in each of her eyes and she was squinting in annoyance.

"John, you haven't said much about the queen."

John looked at Richard as he joined them. "I know."

"And?" Richard prompted.

John glanced round. "I'd rather not say here."

"What? Why?" Rodney exclaimed.

"What?"

At Moira's exclamation John whirled and strode to her bedside. "What is it? Is she all right? Moira, are you…" His words fell away as she met his gaze. He stared. One of her brown eyes had changed color, but as he looked closer he could see that there was a purplish circle round her pupil. The rest of her iris was the deep velvety brown like the other one.

Moira lowered her gaze, uncomfortable. She took the mirror offered by Carson and shyly looked, stared, then handed the mirror back to the doctor, gaze lowered all the while.

"Is she—"

"She's fine and her vision is back to normal. I suspect the pressure on her optic nerve, plus the trauma caused the temporary blindness, and now this central heterochromia."

"What?"

Carson smiled at John's bafflement. "Central heterochromia iridis. Don't worry, she's fine and it's not a tumor or anything like that. We will monitor it closely all the same but I don't expect there will be any trouble from it."

"Moira? Are you okay?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice. She kept her gaze on her lap.

John touched her hand, gently squeezing it. "It's all right, Moy. Don't you worry now." He moved closer and said quietly, "In fact I think it's rather sexy and exotic and hey, it even matches some of your sexier undies, baby."

"John…" she said, smiling. She briefly met his gaze.

He smiled, squeezed her hand again and turned, freeing it to look at the doctor. "If there's any change, any change at all page me." He looked at Moira. She had been watching him but lowered her gaze again. "I'll be back, Moira, all right? Wait for me here and when I get back we can go get some dinner."

"Shouldn't she be with us in the debrief and…" Richard halted as John turned to him with a glare.

"No. Not yet. Let's go. Your office and only Rodney."

"What? Me? Okay." Rodney set the scalpel aside and followed the two men out of the infirmary.

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"Elizabeth?" Rodney's astonishment would have been comical if not for the subject matter. The three men sat in Richard's office. The door was shut against any interruptions.

"Yes." John's foot was tapping on the floor and he dearly wanted a beer. "At least part of her. The physical resemblance was…unsettling. Somehow they got hold of that Replicator's nano thingys and were able to make an amalgamation of the three species into this queen."

"Elizabeth?" Rodney repeated.

"No. Not at all," John said, voice grave. "This queen is nothing like her." He absently stroked the scratch along his face.

"But she has the knowledge of Elizabeth Weir about this city," Richard realized. He sat back in his chair behind his desk and wiped his brow. "About the whole galaxy, even, up to a point. Good God…" he muttered, distraught.

"And that's the least of our worries. The fuglies are on the move in that sector, which means they will be getting closer to us much sooner than I had expected." John rubbed his brow. "We need to pull all intel that we can from that damn device, but we need to be sure it's not actively transmitting when it is on."

"What about Doctor O'Meara? Is she all right?" Richard asked.

John smiled for a moment. "Yes, she's recovering. She will tell us what she can when she can."

"What happened to her?" Rodney asked.

"They hooked her up to that thing with an external Wraith attachment. It was like a sensory enhancer, giving her all the stats and visuals of her surroundings, but it's more than that. It was also giving her data on what it had seen before that, of the fuglies and the planets they had been on and the ships, and it somehow was able to reach the ship when it arrived, at least it was able to sense it if not communicate with it."

"Wow…is she okay?" Rodney asked.

"For now. It…it was supposed to be me…" John swallowed the guilt with an effort. "Anyway it's all a jumble of incomprehension right now for her. Just be careful with that device."

"I will, believe me." Rodney repressed a shudder.

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"I told you to wait for me in the infirmary."

Moira turned at the sound of John's voice as entered her room. She shrugged, returning her gaze to the ocean as she stared out the window. "Sorry. I just…I just wanted to be here. I'm not hungry."

"Nor am I." He moved to her, stood behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, just tired. What about you?"

"Tired, sore, pissed, guilty, surprised…and oh, horny."

She smiled as his arms slid round her waist, drawing her against him. "Oh? So it's just a regular Tuesday for you then."

"Hilarious, Moira. And yes." He ran soft, soft kisses along her throat, up to her ear. "Moira," he breathed low, possessively. His arms tightened around her, displaying his concern and his worry more than any words could.

She caressed his hands, relaxing into his embrace. "It's all right, John. I'm fine, don't you worry. The…the queen…"

"I know. Don't tell anybody. Only Woolsey and Rodney know, and we need to keep it that way for now. Moy…it, it should have been me. It should have…but she…she knew it would hurt me more to have it be you. She's a monster, Moy. A monster." He repressed a shudder.

Moira turned to him and kissed him. "John. Don't you dare blame yourself for this! Don't blame yourself for any of this!" Suddenly she lowered her gaze.

John lifted her face to his and kissed her. A long, slow kiss that made her melt into him. He stared into her eyes, fascinated by the purple circle amid the brown. "Don't you worry, baby. You have nothing to hide, not from me. Never from me."

She smiled and hugged him, pressing herself against that strong, warm solidity. "John. John, John, stay with me, don't leave me," she whispered against his chest.

John's arms enfolded her and he kissed her brow, her hair. "I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart, don't you worry. I'll never leave you, Moira, never."

She turned to view the ocean again, the dark waves glittering as the city lights played across them. "They...they're coming, John. They are coming. And if, if a Wraith Hive can't stop them then how, how can we?"

John had no answer for that. His embrace tightened around her.

He gazed out at the darkness.

He gazed out at the night.

He gazed out at the city of Atlantis.


End file.
